!!!Archive

Archives, collections of writings, especially of documents, deeds, 
pictures and plans. Archives were maintained by monasteries since the 
High Middle Ages, while the rulers long evinced but little interest in 
archives. The archives of the Habsburgs were kept in the sacristy of 
the Court Chapel. Emperor Maximilian I had the documents 
rearranged. Most archives in Austria originated from administrative 
registries. A distinction is commonly made between public and private 
archives. The former comprise the archives of the federal government 
as collected in the Oesterreichisches Staatsarchiv, the archives of 
the individual provinces and those of municipalities. Private archives 
are those of the church (dioceses and monasteries), family archives, 
archives collected by individuals, business organisations, newspapers, 
publishing houses and the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation.

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The Oesterreichisches Staats-Archiv (which is subordinated to the 
Federal Chancellery) was established in 1945 by the merger of the 
Reichs-Archiv Wien established in 1939, the War Archives und the 
Transport Archives. It consists of a) the Director General's Office, 
b) the Haus-, Hof- und Staats-Archiv (HHStA), c) the Allgemeines 
Verwaltungs-Archiv (General Administrative Archives - AVA), with which 
the Transport Archives have been merged, d) the Finanz- und Hofkammer 
Archives (FHKA), e) the War Archives (KA) und f) Archives of the 
Republic (AdR). The Director-General's Office, the Office of Archives 
and departments c, e, and f are accommodated in the Archives Building 
opened in 1988 at Vienna 3, Nottendorfergasse 2. The Haus-, 
Hof- und Staats-Archiv (HHStA) was founded by Maria Theresia in 1749 
as a collection of all documents important to the House of Habsburg 
and the state. It was made part of the State Chancellery in 1762, thus 
becoming the archives of the Habsburgs, the court administration, and 
foreign policy. Joseph II also assigned to these archives those 
of the abolished monasteries. It was made an academic institution in 
1840 and opened to the public in 1868. It is housed in the building at 
Minoritenplatz 1 built in 1902/03.

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The General Administrative Archives (Allgemeines Verwaltungs-Archiv) 
are successor to the Hofkanzlei Archives established in 1820; they 
took over the holdings of the judicial administration in 1918; in 1933 
the Nobility Archives established in 1828 were merged into them, 
followed by the Archives of the Education Administration in 1945. The 
Transport Archives, which also form part of the institution, were 
founded as Archives of the Railway Administration. Since 1826 and 
1846, respectively, these archives have been in charge of the holdings 
of the Railways and the Supreme Postal and Telegraph Administrations, 
and since 1865 those of the Central Office of Navigation. The 
Hofkammer Archives contain documents concerning the transactions of 
the Hofkammer since the 16th century. They were moved to the building 
at Johannesgasse 6 in 1848 (1832-1856 F.  Grillparzerwas Director of 
the Hofkammer Archives). The Financial Archives were founded in 1892 
as Archives of the k. u. k. Ministry of Finance, took over 
the holdings of the Allgemeine Hofkammer from approx. 1814 and 
remained part of the Ministry of Finance until 1938, while the 
Hofkammer Archives (1868-1918 k. u. k. Reichs-Finanz-Archiv) 
were subordinated to the Federal Chancellery. They were merged to form 
one department in 1945. The War Archives were founded by Archduke  
Karl as the Institute of War Sciences in 1801, while the 
Hofkriegsraetliche (War Council) Archives continued to exist. In 1848 
they were merged and became the archives of the War Ministry. All 
documents of the Army and Military Matters collected since 1546 were 
gathered in the newly formed archives (Hofkriegsraetliches 
Kanzlei-Archiv, Registry of the Imperial War Council (Hofkriegsrat) 
and the War Ministry, records of the Federal Armed Forces of the First 
Republic and personnel files of the Deutsche Wehrmacht (1938-1945)). 
The Archives of the Republic, founded in 1983, contain the holdings of 
the other departments since 1918 and 1945 (except for the records of 
the federal theatres and matters of culture and education).

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The time of release of documents for purposes of research is laid down 
by the Federal Chancellery (currently the closed period is generally 
20 years, in special cases 30 years).

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Each province has its own Provincial Archives, which mostly comprise 
two sections, the governmental archives and the archives of the 
Estates. In Vienna the Municipal Archives are at the same time the 
Archives of the Province of Vienna. Most of the major cities have 
their own archives operated by specialised civil servants. Provincial 
archives and some of the municipal archives (e.g. Linz) also keep 
regional records and res gestae.

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Private archives include the diocesan archives in Vienna, 
St. Poelten and Klagenfurt as well as the archives of 
monasteries, which usually hold a wealth of documents from earlier 
periods. Precious records form part of the archives of some 
aristocratic families, while others have entrusted their holdings to 
public archives. Interest groups, political parties and large firms 
usually maintain archives which are not open to the public. 
Specialised archives include documentation centres maintained by 
newspapers, the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF), the Archives 
of the Austrian Resistance Movement and the Austrian Film Archives.

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Archival records are covered by the Act on the Protection of Monuments 
of 1976 (administered by the Office of Archives). Archivists are 
usually trained at the Institute for Austrian Historical Research and 
represented by the "Verband oesterreichischer Archivare" 
(Association of Austrian Archivists). Their periodical, "Scrinium", 
has been published since 1969.

!Literature
L. Bittner, Gesamtinventar des Wiener Haus-, Hof- und 
Staats-Archivs, 5 vols., 1936-1940; Inventare des 
Hofkammerarchivs, 1951; Inventar der Innsbrucker staatlichen Archive, 
1938; Inventar des Steiermaerkischen. Landesarchivs, 1959; 
Mitteilungen des Oesterreichischen Staatsarchivs, since 1948, 
42 vols. und 11 special vols. (1992); Das oesterreichische 
Staatsarchiv. Geschichte, Leistung, Aufgabe, 1988; E. Springer and L. 
Kammerhofer, Archive und Forschung, 1993.


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